The Spider's Quagmire

"Oh, dear brother, shouldn't you tell me what you were doing first?"

Coleman smiled sweetly, completely unruffled.

He met his brother's eyes, calm and composed.

"Just now, you disappeared from the 'map' for a while, didn't you?"

Taking out the monitor, Coleman waved it around.

"And you weren't fighting Hisoka the whole time, so..."

So what were you doing, dear brother?

No, better question: what were you and Hisoka doing?

My dear brother.

Still smiling, Coleman waited for Illumi's reply.

Could answering one question with another solve the problem?

Coleman would tell you: it could.

It was just a matter of turning the tables.

As long as you acted confident enough, you weren't the one in the wrong.

Besides, Coleman hadn't done anything, either.

He'd only come to check out some interesting prey.

And taken care of a bunch of trash along the way.

Illumi stood there, wondering whether he should explain himself to his younger brother.

After all, he was the one who'd thrown away the listening device.

He was also the one who'd run off halfway through to do something else.

And he was the one who'd stood his brother up.

Meanwhile, Coleman had always honored the promise the two of them had made long ago, never hiding his whereabouts from Illumi.

Yet Illumi had thrown away the tracker Coleman had left with him...

Illumi tilted his head and said expressionlessly, "I just went to work. Hisoka was a great help."

Fine. I'll let you have this useful tool.

Coleman understood what his brother meant, both in what he said and what he left unsaid.

He felt sorry for Hisoka.

Illumi had offered him up to Coleman as a "deposit."

"Really? He sounds pretty useful."

Coleman smiled and praised him.

That meant he accepted Hisoka as Illumi's deposit.

They'd call it even for this time, when they'd both vanished from each other's sight for no reason.

Coleman wouldn't press Illumi about why he'd thrown away the monitor, and Illumi would stop asking why Coleman had run off to this godforsaken place.

"Then let's go back."

Illumi blinked and suggested it.

Let's turn the page, okay?

"Sure. Father will probably come looking for us soon."

All right, if you want to turn the page, we'll turn the page.33

"Right. Mother's due date is probably coming up."

The Zoldyck Family was about to have a new little one.

They needed to go back and see.

Coleman seemed to ponder the thought. Oh, right. That was happening.

"Then let's go back to the hotel."

Coleman easily let go of the fact that his brother had been missing for several hours.

But he still had to make his warning.

"Don't let it happen again."

"The same goes for you, Coleman."

Illumi readily agreed to his younger brother's insignificant request.

And he was quite pleased.

See? My little brother cares about me just as much as I care about him.

Taking his brother's little hand, he walked ahead, filled with delight.

But was that really the case?

Coleman wore a perfect smile, saying nothing.

When a python was willing to restrain its possessiveness and need for control for you, and didn't make a fuss about your disappearance, you had to understand: perhaps it wasn't a python after all.

A python would only coil its massive body tighter and tighter around its prey. How could it ever loosen its grip?

So when someone who should have an overwhelming need for control and possession didn't try to possess you too much, you ought to understand.

Perhaps what you saw was nothing more than the façade he had deliberately shown you.

Walking behind Illumi, Coleman watched his brother's back with a smile.

So, my dear brother, by now it should be perfectly clear who's the human and who's the snake.

Shh. Don't remind this boy, so immersed in his own perception, of the truth.

Otherwise, the python might go mad when it realized the other wasn't one of its kind.

Coleman didn't want to be strangled to death by a python.

The little gentleman followed the child, his expression far too inscrutable for his age.

His air was utterly harmless.

Like one of the countless ordinary people hidden in a crowd.

Or like a supreme god looking down on the world.

Next time, I'll try something else.

Maybe... disappearing for two or three days.

Take it slow. His brother could probably push his limits little by little.

Coleman thought to himself, the corner of his mouth lifting.

He would test his brother's patience.

It would be an interesting game.

Like...

Training a snake.

Take it slow. Don't rush.

Be careful, Coleman. He's your brother.

Don't accidentally play him to death.

The game had only just begun.

He kept warning himself over and over.

But his eyes gleamed with anticipation.

His scarlet tongue licked his dry lips.

Things were getting interesting.

Sensing the burning gaze at his back, Illumi merely raised an eyebrow.

Clearly, the still-growing Little Illumi had misunderstood the look in his brother's eyes, despite their combined age being over thirty.

He was still feeling smug about his brother's "possessiveness."

Little did he know...

He'd already become prey in a hunter's hands.

Shh. Don't tell him.

Let him slowly sink into the depths, basking in his own pride and self-satisfaction.

Like sinking into a swamp in the midst of a beautiful dream.

By the time he realized it,

he'd already fallen into the abyss,

with no way out.